BMW E36 Forum

Hi there,
Im in the market to purchase a 92 325i, but the only thing which dissapoints me is the centre console. As i have driven in a E36 where you have buttons for the aircon and etc in the centre, instead of these knobs you twist.
I was wondering whether there are any kits or methods where i can convert the old console into the more modern variant. I could always go to damaged vehicle auctions and grab a console from that one, bu is it possible to do, or do i need to completely rewire the whole electrical system on the BMW?
Cheers
(Sorry if its hard to read, its 3am and i had to write it before i forgot about it tomorrow)

possible..its been done before, but not sure on the mechanics of doing it...

I asked an electrician about how this can be done and if I understand it correctly, you would need to get the control panel (the one with the buttons) and you'll need the motors that control the air vents.

One thing though, the guy who told me about this said that the knobs are more reliable and that he doesn't recommend me doing that change. That's why I gave up on this although I agree the buttons interface looks modern and very cool at night.

Thanks for your help guys, i will have a look into how i would obtain and replace the parts. Probably get the console from an ex-crash bmw, at least i now know that it is possible without too much hassle, cheers.

Btw how can i take out center console with those twisting knobs ? Tryied yesterday but no luck at all

I just noticed your post.

It is not stright forward switch to go from the old knob climate control to the newer style with the buttons. Unfortunately, the hardware that sits in behind needs to be changed and that gets quite expensive.

If you talk to a BMW mechanic thay will also tell you that the old system is very reliable and there are very few problems with it - which is unfortunatly not always the case with the newer system.

The newer push button controls certainly look better but does have it's draw backs.

There is always oredering from your local BMW dealer but sometimes it gets quite expensive. You can also try buying it on EBAY which thats what i do. Some things are cheap but the shipping gets expensive.

@Jesse7
Buying them is the easy part. Figuring out how to give the car manual climate control input from a straight electronic climate control computer becomes a challenge... to say the least.

I would imagine it wouldn't be too hard for an electrical engineer or something along those line but for the average person it's not gonna turn out to well.

WHERE CAN I FIND AN CENTRE CONSOLE ARMREST FOR A RIGHT HAND DRIVE BMW 316I COMPACT E36..